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| Tuesday, 6 January 2004 |
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Letters | |
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Please forward your letters to [email protected] in plain text format within the e-mail message, since as a policy we do not open any attachments. AIDS prevention World AIDS Day which comes once a year, is to warn, educate and to prevent the spread of this 'Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome" which has turned out to be the scourge of the times. Worldwide it is posing a threat, as devastating as nuclear annihilation. Even as it is, it is receiving worldwide publicity as a killer disease, with no cure. Millions are being spent to combat the spread of it, and people's fears are mounting as they hear, via the media, the statistics of the indiscriminate numbers, who are already afflicted with this disease, who will by the end of the century be affected by this, besides the unknown numbers of those who are carriers of this dreaded disease. AIDS being a sexually transmitted disease, it is no secret, where the remedy lies. Prevention is better than cure, and it is a fact there is no cure. What then stands in the way, of prevention of this dreaded disease? The promiscuous lifestyle of the west, in a permissive society, has no doubt, contributed to the spread of the disease. Attitudes may change, and a reverse of what exists could be expected, but as long as permissiveness and promiscuity is there, the eradication of, let alone the prevention of this incurable sickness, can never be foreseen. If you play with fire, you must expect to get burnt. A gradual erosion in moral values and norms in human relationships has come in the wake of infidelity in marriages and extra marital relations. Is it any wonder then that young people too are going there way with no parental control or guidance? Through fear of this young people may reject the sexual freedom that hitherto existed, but as long as there is promiscuity in society this cannot be. Wallowing in the cesspool of illicit sex has brought mankind to the brink of disaster, as we see to what extent AIDS has effected mankind as a whole. It is in this respect that Islam enjoins segregation of the sexes, and lays emphasis on strict privacy in the home. Marriage and home are held sacred where none may enter without permission other than family members. The Holy Quran says 'ye who believe! Enter not houses other than your own, until ye have asked permission, and saluted those in them that is best for you: 14-27 and if "ye find no one in the house enter not, until permission is given to you. And if ye are asked to go back, go back that makes for great purity. God knoweth well all you do" 14-27. Free mingling of the sexes, is strictly forbidden in Islam. The Holy Quran in clear terms gives such injunction for the good mankind. This leads to freedom, of movement between the sexes. Permissiveness in society has brought about immoral behaviour among people today. Modesty too plays an important part in human relationships. The way women dress expresses this. We find some who question the right of women to dress as they please. Yes, they have the freedom to expose themselves, if nobody wants to stop them, but that only brings them the level of beasts, to whom the law of the jungle befits them. As human beings we have been endowed with the faculty to think and reason. To think and act according to our conscience, if not any other way, but according to the code of good morals. Ayesha Yusuf, Dehiwela. Consumer Affairs Authority During the past few weeks letters from readers appeared in the DN praising the bold action taken by the Consumer Affairs Authority in respect of the price hike sought by a gas company and the detection of artificial colouring in "Red' raw rice, the latter on a complaint by a consumer. In regard to the artificial colouring of both raw and par-boiled rice to dupe the consumers to show that it retained bran containing nutritional value and then sell it at a higher price. There have been numerous complaints on this ruse adopted by unscrupulous traders during the past and a multiplicity of State organs like the Fair Trading Commission, Price Control & Weights & Measures Depts., P.H.I. of local bodies, all vested with powers to curb these malpractices and whose activities have a direct bearing on the cost of living and health of the people have failed to take any firm action. I may add that some of the rice and so-called fast food items sold are unfit for human consumption. It may be that consumers have also been wary of lodging complaints as only the small time vendors were prosecuted and the big ones escaped through influence or offers of gratifications and carried on regardless. I also wish to bring to the notice of the CAA that although the metric system came into operation in Sri Lanka nearly 20 years ago there are traders at Gampaha who use the old unlicensed 'Seruwa' in measuring rice especially by traders in the interior areas. Also textiles are measured by the yard using unlicensed yardsticks. By these methods the ordinary customer is placed in a quandary, unable to figure out the difference in metric weight and length and work out the price on the basis of the difference. Officials of the CAA may venture into the outskirts of the towns and catch these culprits who ultimately are responsible in making Governments unpopular. As regards the pricing of consumer articles are concerned the newspapers themselves insert a notice asking the advertisers to price mark their products so advertised but only a few companies give the prices of products they advertise. Not only the private companies but even government sector trading houses fail to do so. I do not know whether I have interpreted this requirement in a wrong way and they are only required to price mark their goods at their shops and showrooms. It will be appreciated if steps are taken by the CAA to educate the consumers as well as the manufacturers and traders on the rights and requirements under the Consumer Protection Act and manifold government regulations and enactments on this subject through both the print and electronic media setting out the most important enabling them to know when any regulation is contravened. To come back to reader S. A. Jayasekera who has aptly captioned his letter 'CAA bares Teeth' (DN Nov. 25) and said that CAA has guts and a backbone, it is pertinent to mention here that certainly one should not be surprised that it is having very strong teeth, guts and a backbone with Seetha Wimalasena at the helm of its affairs. Mrs. Wimalasena earlier served as the Chairperson of the Lanka Salu Sala Ltd. (successor to the State Trading Textiles Corporation) with great distinction and this State Corporation rose to great heights during her tenure as its General Manager and later as the Chairman. This was made possible as she maintained strict discipline and was a hard taskmaster, with herself being a workaholic. Mrs. Wimalasena was among a very few who worked fulltime as a Chairman of a Statutory Board/Corporation and was perhaps the only Chairman to have punched a card marking her arrival and departure from work at Salu Sala and other Executives from General Manager downwards had to follow suit. For her efficiency and dedication to work she could only be classed among famous CCS & CAS men of the calibre of Messrs. M. J. Perera, S. D. Saparamadu of the Treasury, Felix Seneviratne of the Milk Board and Lionel Fernando under whom the writer had the privilege to work in government and corporations sectors except under the last named. N. B. ALAHAKOON, Gampaha. Political dividends Twenty six Legislative Enactments were recently suspended to make way for past tax offenders to submit declaration and to seek immunity and be active participants of the new tax culture and enjoy the benefits offered. It is on record that 200 tax dodgers were benefited and the losses already suffered were approximately 25,000 million. VAT collections by the retail dealers are apparently still in their hands with no possibility of collecting them. The fortune is still in their favour. CWE is no more. The retail business is now in the hands of big business companies choosen by the Minister of Consumer Activities. The WB/IMF forced the demolition and the transfer to the private sector. The Minister recently attended a WTO Conference held in CANCUN. He made it very clear at the conference that Sri Lanka would open its doors to purchase and sell goods including farm products and allow our cultivators and other producers to stay at home without exposure to hot sun. In the meantime Prof. GLP rode on the back of the Tiger like the lady of Rigar. He went from Thai to Germany. The Tiger returned with a smile on its face. The Tiger went smiling go Swiss and to Ireland and came back with a big scroll containing proposals for IA. Then the PM got the wind of dimensions of the proposals and he ran to see Bush for advice. On his return he found a portion of his political structure snatched by the President. Now he says the Ceasefire Agreement is in danger. He says he needs the Defence and the Police. Trade unions are now dormant. Agitations have come to an end with 10 per cent enhancement granted. GMOA had a slice of 50 per cent but the health cadres are still at war with the minister. The poor pensioners are happy with the graveyard for nothing fair and reasonable will come under this dispensation. Some have adjusted their dying depositions. Either burial or cremation within 24 hours whichever is convenient without much cost is now entrenched into the last will. Who are the beneficiaries in politics? G. P. Shortcomings at SLBC The new management that has taken over the SLBC should note the following shortcomings and take immediate steps to remedy the same which may be enumerated as follows: The very weak reception when compared to the other broadcasters using wave lengths which very often overlap the SLBC Broadcasts and disturb the same, in this regard, the engineering section should bear responsibility. The failure to announce the times at short intervals takes a listener of course as other Broadcasters send strong beams which often disturb the SLBC Broadcast. The failure to read out the obituaries over the Sinhala service just after the news broadcasts which practice keeps the listener waiting for a long time till the commercials which are given preference are read out, on a reckoning it is found that 250 to 300 obituaries are sent to be read over the Sinhala service every month and every notice is charged for according to the number of words. People in remote areas especially workmen, labourers, farmers and disabled servicemen who cannot afford the luxury of a TV set could only use pocket radios to listen to broadcasts. Dead men cannot wait and their friends and relatives throughout the length and breadth of the country are often deprived of the knowledge of the demise of their loved ones by the time the obituaries are read. EARLE R. DE SOYSA, Ratmalana. Intolerable arrogance I am an old pensioner who retired from service when every single Government officer was treated with respect. as such I felt humiliated and angry at the recent incident where an MP assaulted a Divisional Secretary in Kalutara district. It angered me even more when I read that this MP had the intolerable arrogance to summon this officer at almost midnight to a carnival and demand that the MP be paid due 'Pooja.' The assault was when the DS refused to do so. To what level has the public service sunk that an MP believes that he can treat a senior Government officer as a slave at his beck and call at any hour of the day or night! The fault lies in the Constitution that the old fox JR foisted on us. According to the Constitution appointments to the posts of "Head of Department" are made by the Cabinet. Which means that ambitious Government officers are left with no alternative but to lick political boots/slippers if they want plum posts. Once appointed, these poor chaps have no alternative but to pay heed to his (MP) master's voice. How have the mighty fallen! XDRO, Colombo 3. Tombs or monuments The President is right in what she has done, as it is in keeping with the Constitution. The Prime Minister is also right in asking the ministries back, as he had enjoyed that privilege for nearly two years. Now take the citizens of this country, millions of them, they are also right in demanding permanent peace. The government is duty bound to meet the demand, which if not fulfilled, the historians will say they all stood on their rights and not the country. Talking of 'rights', reminds me of what was displayed in a Police Traffic office, which read, "Here lies the Tomb of the Man who stood for his Right of Way". Let there be no tombs. There will be monuments to those who can bring permanent peace to this little paradise of ours. G. P. Dhanatunga, Kolonnawa. |
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